Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Quarrels

The blue-haired woman breathed deeply in order to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at the red-haired man standing in front of her in annoyance. He was leaning against a big boulder, staring at her with indifference but Hinata could detect a slight aura of anger coming from him.

"Are you done?" he asked, looking at her sharply.

"Not yet," Hinata said, as she grabbed her kunai out of her pouch. She launched straight at him, raising her kunai for an attack.

His sand deflected the sharp metal weapon easily. The sand quickly formed a fist and came straight for her, which she managed to dodge just barely. She had to get close but she knew it was almost impossible. She sent several exploding tags but the sand got in the way, making her attack useless.

She let out a sigh of frustration. Using her Byakugan, she could see where he was, but she had no idea how to get through his sand barrier. Speed was the only way. She once again landed on the clearing in front of him and just as she predicted, his sand came toward her.

"Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms," she whispered, as she summoned chakra to both of her palms and moved to block his attack. It came to her naturally just as she practiced so many times before. She could feel her adrenaline rushing and hear her own heartbeat as she shot a large amount of chakra forward, which momentarily dispelled his sand.

Hinata saw the opportunity. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."

But she saw that opening vanish even before she launched her attack and she had to redirect her offensive move to more of a defense so that she could focus on not getting caught in his trap. She flipped backward, out of his reach.

"You're holding back," Hinata managed to breathe out. "It's not fair."

Gaara smirked at her slightly. "You need more practice."

Hinata knew that she was being unfair but nonetheless, what he said made her feel only more agitated.

Hinata came to him with a newfound vigor. But Gentle Fist was useless against something that she could not harm. When she was finally running out of chakra and strength, it gave his sand the opportunity to end this game.

Hinata suddenly found herself wrapped tightly in his sand in the middle of her attack and knew that it was over. As he came near her, the veins in her eyes retracted slowly and her gray-purplish eyes looked at Gaara with resignation and defeat.

"I win," Gaara declared with a triumphant smirk.

"As always," Hinata shot back with a disappointed sigh.

"You wanted to train with me," Gaara claimed as he still kept his hold on her with the sand. He was now in front of her with his arms crossed. "I didn't exactly agree on this."

"Well, you still came, didn't you?" Hinata asked him, having the guts to stand up to him for someone whose life was in his hand.

"You dragged me here," Gaara said, semi-glaring at her.

"You could have refused," Hinata shot back stubbornly, returning his glare with one of her own. "Could you please let go? I'm feeling a little stifled here," Hinata stated.

Gaara chose to conveniently ignore her first statement. "You try to break out of the grip."

Hinata's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "You know that it's not that easy as it sounds."

"Easy or not, a kunoichi should be able to deal with all kinds of situation," Gaara claimed as the corner of his lips lifted to form a taunting smirk.

Hinata's mouth closed in a tight thin line, indicating that she was frustrated. Then she let out the breath she was holding, letting go all her anger that she had bottled up against the man in front of her. Her whole face feature slowly brightened. "Please?" She looked at him with a cute expression of hers.

"It won't work this time," he said, as he broke the eye contact purposely to look away.

"But you wanted to spend some time with me today, right? Isn't that why you came along?" Hinata asked with a knowing smile. If her expression wouldn't work, then her words would do the job.

He didn't answer her but she knew she hit the right spot. She could feel the grip on her loosen until finally she was gently let down onto the ground.

"Here." He gave a water bottle to her, which she grabbed it with ease.

She gratefully took big gulps of water as she closed her eyes to shut out the bright, red light coming from the sun. The sun in Suna was always intense and burning and she briefly wished that she were back in Konoha so that she didn't have to deal with this stifling atmosphere. She watched him as she capped the bottle and he stared back unflinchingly.

His feature softened a little. "You got lots of cuts and bruises."

Hinata looked down on herself. "Indeed, I did. But it's only minor injury."

"Tch." He was irritated that she didn't seem to be particularly bothered by them. He had been the one who had inflicted those damages on her, unintentionally or not.

She could once again feel an angry vibe emanating from him. "I'll get them treated later," she tried to appease him.

He glared at her.

"Let's go get some ice cream," she smiled at him.

"After you are treated," he stated as he stretched out his hand in front of her, demanding that she give the disinfectant and bandages.

She reluctantly got them out and handed it to him. She settled down on the ground and let him treat the cuts on her arms.

"I don't know why you keep on insisting to spar with me," Gaara claimed, exasperatedly.

"You're the best sparring partner," Hinata said as she looked at him, quizzically.

"I could hurt you," Gaara replied while wrapping her arm. "To the point of killing."

"But you wouldn't," she stated, matter-of-factly.

"You put so much faith in me," Gaara claimed as he tied the knots.

"As much as you put faith in me," Hinata countered, forcefully.

"It's not the same," he said, looking up to give her an annoyed look.

"What's not the same? You trust me, I trust you. If there is an accident, there is an accident. I may not be physically strong, but I'm still a kunoichi. I can handle it," Hinata firmly stated.

Gaara was still unconvinced. He grabbed her shoulders, making her turn toward him. "And if it was a big accident?"

"I would still forgive you," Hinata claimed as she grabbed his shoulders to use them as support as she got up. The bottle of disinfectant and unused bandages were temporarily forgotten as he got up as well.

"There won't be a next time," he said as his aquamarine eyes pierced hers.

Hinata just smiled back at him. She grabbed his shoulders and pressed them down to make his back bend so that she could look at him at the eye-to-eye level. He leaned forward, knowing that she would meet him halfway. Their lips met for a second before Hinata broke the contact. "We'll see."

His eyes turned hard and stubborn. "No, we won't."

She smiled, teasingly. "You'll come. No use in arguing with me."

"You're a stubborn little wife," Gaara said as he pulled her forward.

"I got that from you," Hinata stated, as her lips met his for the second time.

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